Bee-hive



(No Model.)

U. G. MATTHEW.

BEEHIVE.

Patented Mar. 15, 1892.

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* Nrrnl) STATES ULYSSES G. MATTHEIV,'OF NEWV CITY, ILLINOIS.

BEE-HIVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 470,789, dated March15, 1892.

Application filed July 13, 1891. Serial No. 399,322. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ULYssEs G. MATTHEW, of New City, Sangamon county,Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Bee-Hives; and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make and use the invention, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in bee-hives; and it consists inthe peculiar construction and combination of devices that will be morefully described hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinalsectional View through myimproved bee-hive on the plane indicated by thedotted line or x of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectionalview on the plane indicated by the dotted line 2 z of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3is a horizontal sectional View on the plane of the dotted line y y ofFig. 2.

The body A of the hive, which is of twice the usual size, is dividedinto two brood-chambers B by means of a vertical central partition 0.The said partition has an openingD at its upper edge, which admits ofcommunication between the two brood-chambers, and this opening is keptnormally closed by means of a slide E, which operates in grooves in thesides of the opening. On the opposite ends of each brood-chamber, at aslight distance from the upper sides thereof, are secured transversecleats F, and r'abbets G are made in the ends of the brood-chambers andin the upper side of the partition, the said rabbets being at a suitabledistance apart.

The bottoms of the brood-chambers are partly formed at their outer endsby hinged platforms H, which are adapted to be lowered, and are normallykept secured by hooks I and catches K. (Shown by dotted lines in Fig.2.) The said platforms project beyond the ends of the brood-chambers andhave openings L near their centers covered with pieces of wire-gauze M.The said openings constitute ventilators in the bottoms of thebroodchambers.

Bee-entrances N are made in the ends of the brood-chambers at theirsides to admit the entrance and exit of the bees, and said entrances maybe closed at will by slides O, which operate in guides P In each of thebrood-chambers is arranged a suitable number of honey-frames R. Thehoney frames are made of strips of wood, which are rectangular in shape,and their upper sides have projecting ends S, which bear on the cleats Fand fit in the rabbets G and support the frames in the brood-chambers.The lower sides of the top bars of the honeyframes are beveled onopposite sides, as at F, to prevent the combs from dropping either waywhen the frames are removed. Pins U project laterally from the lowersides of each honey-frame, and said pins serve to space the honey-framesat their lower sides and to maintain them at the required distanceapart, as will be readily understood.

The cleats F maintain the ends of the honeyframes at some distance fromthe ends of the brood-chambers, and hence prevent the bees from gluingthe frames to the ends of the brood-chambers.

Honey-boardsVform the tops of the broodchambers, and said boards restsquarely on the upper sides of the honey-frames and are secured in placeby pegs or pins W, which enter the upper edges of the body and may bereadily withdrawn to admit of the removal of the boards V. Thesehoney-boardsVhave openings X, which establish communication between thebrood-chambers and the chamber Y, formed by the removable cover Z of thehive. This cover has its lower edges fitted around the upper portion ofthe body A and bearing on flange-strips .A on the sides of the body andmay be readily removed at will.

A series of long caps or boxes B are arranged transversely on the boardsVat right angles to the honey-frames and have openings O in their lowersides, which register with the openings X and admit the bees readilyfrom the brood-chambers to the honey-boxes. WVhen it is not desirable toadmit the bees to the honey-boxes, the latter are reversed in position,thus closing the openings X. The honey-boxes are made of thin boards ofsuitable size with open ends, and the upper and lower sides of thehoney-boxes project at the ends and have grooves D in their opposing thebench, table, or other surface on which it may be placed.

I will now describe my improved moth-traps, which I have devised toprevent the mothmiller from entering the hive. Under each of the hingedplatforms II on opposite sides of the openings therein are a pair ofguides or ways G, in which the moth-traps II are fitted. The said trapsare boxes having openings I at their ends. On the upper and lower sidesof the said openings are secured a series of converging wires K, whichextend inward in the boxes and admit the ready entrance of the millersthereto; but the points of the wires etliectually prevent their escapetherefrom. The said traps have hinged bottoms L, as shown in Fig. 2,provided with hooks M, whereby they may be fastened when closed, whichis their normal position. \V hen a number of the millers are found inthe traps, the latter are removed, the millers killed by pouring boilingwater on them, and they are then removedbyopeningthehingedbottoms.During warm weather the traps are moved in the guides a sufiicientdistance to uncover the ventilator-openings; but in cold weather theyare caused to close the said openings.

I will now describe the operation of my improved hive. Ordinarily theslide E is moved to close the opening D, and thus cut oil? communicationbetween the two brood-chambers,

and the entrance to one of the latter is also closed, thus confining thebees to one of the brood-chambers and tothehoney-boxes over it. Inhiving bees, remove the moth-trap from the platform of the brood-chamberthat is to be used and lower the said platform, which will enable thebees to quickly enter the hive. Then the bees have given indications ofa desire to swarm, at night, when they are all in the hive, the entranceto the brood-chamber in which they have been at work is closed and theslide E raised a sufficient distance to uncover the opening D. Theentrance to the empty brood-chamber should be also opened, and the newcolony of bees will then pass into the empty brood-chambers, after whichthe partition which should be closed and the entrance to the originalbrood-chamber opened, when the two colonies of bees will operateindependently of each other in the separated chambers of the hive.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-- 1. A bee-hive having thebottom provided with a ventilating-opening, and a moth-trap, and guideson the said hinged bottom, whereby the moth-trap may be moved to eitherclose or uncover the ventilating-opening, substantially as described.

2. A bee hive having the supporting-legs, the hinged bottom,with theventilating-opening and the guides, and the moth-trap having flangesfitting in the guides and adapted to be moved to close or uncover theventilatingopening, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I append my signature.

ULYSSES G. MATTHEW.

\Vitnesses THOMAS F. STACY, 7 WILLIAM G. POFFENBARGER.

